Fuelling the Fire
by Goldilocks775
Summary: She cackled with glee as the flames grew bigger. What was once a sweet little hut was now a billowing inferno. She giggled like a child having all the fun in the world. This is the story of a little girl. This is the story of Bellatrix Black.
1. Chapter 1

_She skipped towards the burning inferno that had once been a sweet little wooden hut. Cackling madly, she waved her wand above her head, giggling like a child playing some sort of mad game._

 _The fire grew and grew. The flames leapt out of control, and she was only making it grow bigger._

 _This is the story of Bellatrix Black._

"But _Mummy!_ I don't _want_ to wear that dress! It's ugly and I hate the stupid frills!"

"Bellatrix Druella Black! You are the eldest and you are a bad example to your sisters! You _will_ wear this dress!"

"I don't _WANT_ to!" She shrieked. The dress, out of nowhere, caught fire.

"That's it! You will not be permitted out of your bedroom for the remainder of the evening!"

Bellatrix was shocked. "But it's Sirius's birthday! I-I need to give him his present!" She spluttered angrily, gesturing to the carefully wrapped present.

Druella smirked. "Well, you should've though of that before you yelled at me and set this dress on fire, then, shouldn't you?"

"Please, Mummy! I want to see Sirius and Regulus!"

Druella sighed. She waved her wand at the dress and it was instantly repaired.

"Then put on the dress." She said.

Bellatrix huffed and stepped into the frilly pink garment, pulling a face.

"Don't you pull faces at me!" Druella warned.

"I'm _not._ " Bellatrix whined.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Sirius guffawed at the sight of Bella's ridiculous dress. She glared at him.

"Shut up!"

"Oh Bella, you look absolutely ridiculous." He laughed. "You look just like… well, I'm not sure exactly what you look like. Just very silly."

Bellatrix scowled.

"I think she looks lovely." Andromeda hugged her older sister from behind.

Bellatrix stuck her tongue out at Sirius. "Just wait, Sirius. When we get to Hogwarts I'll hex you!"

"Dromeda-get off!" Bellatrix shrugged her ten year old sister off.

Andromeda giggled and ran off to rescue Narcissa, who was getting her cheeks pinched by Aunt Walburga.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"I can't believe that you two are going to start school next week!" Walburga exclaimed.

Bella and Sirius glanced at each other happily. They were very close as they had grown up together. In fact, they were only born two months apart.

Bellatrix took her role as the older cousin and sister very seriously. Even though her parents often told her that she was a poor role model as the eldest child, her sisters and cousins looked up to her.

"I can't wait to go to Hogwarts as well!" Narcissa said enviously. She and Regulus were nine, and had to wait another two years until they could attend.

"Your meals is being ready now, Master." Pinky, one of the house-elves, appeared holding a large tray. Two more elves appeared, also holding trays laden with food.

They quickly placed the food on the table, and left the room to start making dessert.

"So, Walburga, I hear that Nott's daughter was married?" Druella, always one for the gossip, brought up.

"Yes, they threw quite a large ceremony that was perfectly ridiculous, if you ask me." Said Walburga.

"You know, we were never invited to the celebration." Said Druella.

Sirius looked sideways at Bella and crossed his eyes, poking his tongue out. She let out a tiny snort of laughter, which, unfortunately, was detected by her father.

He looked sharply at her. "Bellatrix Black. Sit up straight, you are a lady."

All attention went to Bella, who went quite red. "Yes Father." She mumbled. She adjusted her posture until her spine was poker-straight, shoulders even, head up. Incredibly uncomfortable, and still what her father deems 'acceptable' posture.

"And don't mumble!" He snapped.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

After dinner, the adults allowed the kids to go to the playroom.

The playroom was a large, airy room at the top of the manor, painted a shocking shade of pink that all three sisters secretly hated. There was a large bookshelf, the books neatly put away, and a big purple toy-box that was full of dolls and stuffed animals.

A dress-up box was in the corner that none of them ever played with. In fact, only Narcissa ever played with any of the toys and she did very rarely.

"What a disgusting colour!" Sirius exclaimed, looking around the room.

"Sirius, must you say that every time we visit here?" Regulus asked.

Narcissa giggled. "We all actually hate the colour pink but Mummy doesn't care."

"Yes, according to our parents 'pink is a colour for ladies' which is complete dung if you ask me." Bellatrix rolled her eyes.

Andromeda swatted her sister's arm. "Language, Bella!"

Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "Honestly, Dromeda, I'd thought that you'd have heard far worse with Bella as your sister."

The kids erupted into laughter.

"So, what do you want to do?" Narcissa asked after their laughter had died down. She looked around the room, frowning. "There's not much to do, I'm afraid."

"We could play wizard chess." Regulus suggested.

"No, remember what happened last time? We had our set taken away after we decided to make the pieces into a tower." Andromeda replied.

"Looking back, perhaps placing the tower right outside the parlour door maybe wasn't the _best_ idea going around." Regulus said.

Sirius groaned. "I'd much rather be playing Quidditch or something."

Bellatrix jumped up. "I've got an idea!" She ran from the room, an excited look on her face.

"What's she up to this time?" Andromeda sighed. They all shrugged.

"Honestly, who knows." Narcissa said.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Bellatrix dug around in her bedside-table drawer, looking for something her uncle had given her for Christmas.

When she found it, she let out a triumphant squeal, and rushed back to the room, clutching the box to her chest.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"What've you got, Bella?" Narcissa asked. Regulus looked at the plain box curiously.

"Uncle Alphard gave it to me last Christmas! He told me to hide it somewhere so that our parents won't find it. I haven't opened it yet, but knowing Uncle Alphard it'll be something fun."

She set the box down carefully in the middle of their little group. She peeled the brown paper off of it to reveal bright neon colours that flashed every second.

All the

 _~Zonko's~_ the label read.

Sirius opened the lid. A big puff of blue smoke went into his face and he coughed.

"Yuck."

Narcissa looked into the box, and her face lit up. "It's games!"

It was much bigger on the inside than the outside, probably charmed by their Uncle so it would be easier to hide.

Inside there was all kinds of wizarding games, pranks and sweets.

Andromeda cheered. "Now we won't be BORED!" She yelled happily.

"Dromeda! Shush!" Bellatrix told her. "If Mummy and Daddy find it, it'll be taken away!"

"Sorry, Bella."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"I'll go check on the children." Druella said, setting down her mug of tea and standing up. "They're being far too quiet for my liking."

She left the room and started to climb the many stairs to the top storey of the house.

She paused, hearing giggling. That was never a good sign when Sirius and Bellatrix were involved. She sighed.

"Children? What are you doing?" She called up the stairs.

Her footsteps creaked as she walked down the hallway, the old house protesting.

Instantly the giggling stopped. She heard several unintelligible whispers and then silence.

She walked down the hall until she came to the playroom door.

She opened it. "What are you doing?" She said.

"Nothing Mummy!" Narcissa hastily said. "We're just-ah-talking…"

"Really? I find that quite hard to believe." Druella raised her eyebrows, a stern expression on her face.

"Honest, Aunt Druella, we were catching up seeing as we haven't seen each other since Andromeda's birthday the other month." Regulus said smoothly.

Sirius caught on. "Indeed, we were telling them an amusing tale about the last time Uncle Alphard visited."

"And what tale would this be?" Druella asked.

"Oh, he was drunk. You know what he's like when he gets drunk." Sirius said.

Andromeda giggled. "And they were trying to act out facial expressions and it was rather hilarious!"

Bellatrix grinned. "That gives me an idea. Mummy, are we allowed to play charades with those cards Cissy got for Christmas?"

"I don't see why not. Just don't be too noisy and it's bedtime in an hour."

"Okay, Mummy!" Narcissa chirped.

Druella smiled at them and left the room, leaving the door open so she could hear any mischief.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Good! She's gone!" Andromeda whispered quietly. "We should still whisper though, our mother has very good hearing."

"Okay." Regulus whispered back. He and Sirius grinned at each other.

Sirius retrieved it from under the cushion they had stuffed it under, Regulus then sitting on the cushion.

"Is it squashed?" Narcissa asked worriedly.

"No, it's okay, Uncle Alphard must've put some sort of charm on it." Sirius said reassuringly to the youngest of the cousins.

Bella nodded. "Yup, dropped a heavy book on it when he first gave it to me. Not a scratch."

"I can't wait to go to Hogwarts." Andromeda said, eyes shining.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Bella, we'll miss you so much!" Bella's sisters pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.

"Oof! Get off, sillies!" The three sisters smiled at each other.

"Promise you'll write to us?" Narcissa asked.

"Hmmm… I will."

"Every day?"

"Ha! Not a chance. Bye, love you!" She pulled them in for another hug.

Her mother hugged her warmly. "You be good, okay Bella?"

Bella was surprised for a second, because she and her mother didn't really hug, and because her mother never called her Bella.

"Yes, Mummy."

"Don't get up to _too_ much mischief with Sirius, alright?"

"Okay. Bye!"

Bellatrix and her mother let go of each other, and Bella turned towards her father.

"Goodbye Father." She said.

"Goodbye, Bellatrix. I expect you will do our family proud."

"Yes, Father."

"BELLA! COME ON!" Sirius yelled.

"Bye, love you!" She yelled one last time and hopped onto the train with her cousin.

 **Yeah, another story. Another flippin' story. I have too many stories, most of which haven't been updated for like six months.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed! If you did, review! If you didn't, go away!**

 **Alright, I'll stop rambling before I embarrass myself further.**

 **Farewell!**


	2. Chapter 2

Bella and Sirius dragged their luggage down the train, searching for an empty compartment.

When they found none, Sirius knocked on the door of a compartment filled with boys.

"Why don't we just make someone move?" Bellatrix pouted. "I don't want to meet new people."

"Tough, princess." Sirius grinned at her cheekily. She slapped his arm and he rolled his eyes.

The door slid open.

"Hello." Sirius said. "Can we join you?"

The boy who opened the door was tall, with hazel eyes and jet black hair.

"Of course! Are you first years as well?" The tall boy asked, gesturing for them to come inside.

They both nodded and took a seat.

"So, what are your names?" he asked.

"I'm Sirius, and this is my cousin Bella." Sirius answered.

"Bellatrix, if you please."

"My cousin Bella _trix,_ sorry, my mistake. How about you guys?"

"I'm James," the tall boy answered, "and this is Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew." He gestured to a slim boy with curious amber eyes and quite a few scars and a small mousy boy who looked a bit nervous.

"Hello."

"Well, James, Remus and Peter, before we make friends, what's your Quidditch team?" Sirius asked.

"The best of the best! Puddlemere United!"

All four boys got into a heated debate about Quidditch. For Bella, the minutes were ticking by slowly.

Finally, when she couldn't stand to hear the word 'quaffle' one more time, she poked Sirius in the shoulder.

"Hmm?"

"I'm going to go find Laura, if that's alright with you." He nodded. "See you later."

0o0o0o0o0o

Laura and Bellatrix had known each other since they were babies, and they had become friends. Not best friends, but friends.

She was sitting in a compartment at the other end of the train, with a whole lot of other kids. Upon seeing Bellatrix, her face lit up.

"Bella! Come and sit down."

Bellatrix dragged her truck into the compartment and, with Laura's help, they heaved it onto the luggage rack.

She took a seat next to Laura.

"Bella, this is Lucius Malfoy, Rodolphus Lestrange, Rita Skeeter and Valentina Zabini."

Bellatrix gave the group an acknowledging nod, before turning to Laura. "Have you heard of James Potter, Remus Lupin or Peter Pettigrew?"

Laura shook her head, but Lucius nodded. "My father is on the school board. Potter is a pureblood but his parents are all, you know, okay with mudbloods and such scum. He also told me that there are quite a few mudbloods this year, and Lupin is one of them. I haven't heard of Pettigrew, so he's probably a common half-blood."

Bellatrix groaned and buried her head in her hands. "Great, just _brilliant,_ my cousin is has made friends with riff-raff and scum. Just what we need. Oh, his parents are going to be _so_ thrilled." She said sarcastically.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

When they finally arrived at Hogwarts, Bella noticed that Sirius seemed to now be good friends with James Potter and his gang.

She was a bit jealous, actually. He waved at her but she scowled and turned away from him. Sirius rolled his eyes, used to his cousin's possessiveness.

"First years, first years over here, please." A tall witch waved to the crowd of new students.

Bellatrix shared a boat with Laura, Valentina and Rita. Rita was driving her a bit crazy, actually. She just talked, asked questions and talked some more.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

The group of first years followed Professor McGonagall into the great hall, where they looked around in wonder. Bellatrix especially liked the enchanted ceiling, which looked like the night sky, the stars twinkling.

Professor McGonagall placed a ratty, old hat on a rickety wooden stool.

Sirius sniggered and nudged Bellatrix. "What's _that_ supposed to do?" He whispered. She grinned at him. "Maybe its sole purpose is to make us look extremely unflattering." She whispered.

But before he could answer back, the hat started to sing.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

A couple of older boys at the Gryffindor table sniggered at the first years' stunned faces. They had, after all, just seen a hat _sing._ A hat. A singing hat.

With a single glare from Bellatrix, the boys shut up.

"And the sorting will commence. When I read your name, you will sit on the stool and place the hat on your head."

Sirius squeezed Bella's hand.

"Black, Bellatrix!" Professor McGonagall called.

Bella let go of her cousin's hand and walked up to the stool. She picked up the hat, and wondered just how many other students had touched it before her.

" _Hmmm. Another one of you Blacks, I see. Well, I see… very loyal to her loved ones, very protective. But you'd stick out like a sore thumb in Hufflepuff. Certainly the academic brain for Ravenclaw, but you don't seem to have that same passion for learning. Brave and bold, ideal Gryffindor traits. Let's see. Ah. I see a lust for power, a willingness for greatness. You'll do whatever it takes to get what you want. It had better be_ SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table erupted into cheers and claps as Bellatrix took the ancient-looking hat off of her head and placed it on the stool. She walked down the steps and took her seat at the new house table.

A shortish girl with wavy brown hair gave her a sickeningly sweet smile. "Hello! Welcome to Slytherin, I'm Dolores." She stuck her hand out for Bellatrix to shake.

Bella shook it, raising her eyebrows at the girl, before turning her attention back to the sorting just in time to hear McGonagall call out her cousin's name.

He swaggered up to the stool-yes, _swaggered_ \- and sat down.

He had a stupid little smirk on his face the whole ten minutes he was up there. Bellatrix moved over so he could sit next to her once the sorting hat finally called out his house.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Bellatrix's eyes widened dramatically and then narrowed when her cousin smiled at her from his house table.

He had _betrayed_ their family! Bellatrix was furious. That stupid Potter boy had probably dared him to ask to be put in Gryffindor. His parents weren't going to be happy, and neither were hers.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Valentina and Laura sat on either side of Bellatrix, along with another girl called Charlotte.

Laura squeezed Bella's shoulder sympathetically, knowing how close she and Sirius were.

Bellatrix didn't react. She looked at her cousin on the other side of the hall, who was laughing with those awful boys, seemingly not caring about his betrayal to the family and the name of Black.

"Look at him." She hissed to Laura. "Look at him! He doesn't know what he's done!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o

After dinner, the girl who had introduced herself to Bellatrix led the first years down to the Slytherin dormitories.

"And this, children, is the greatest house." Bellatrix snorted at being called a 'child'.

"Won't she just shut up and let us go inside already?" Bella whispered to Laura, who giggled. Dolores looked at them both sharply.

"Girls, I must ask you to pay attention while I'm talking." She said sweetly, her eyes daggers.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"I still cannot believe how Sirius betrayed us." She said to Laura when Dolores finally stopped rambling about 'morals' and 'greatness' and 'house of the snakes'.

Bellatrix was still in disbelief. How could he? He was a Black. Having the name Black was a great privilege and it should be treated like one, not treated like some normal old surname.

The Black family was a prestigious family, and their values were not to be reckoned with. But Sirius had treated their honourable family name with complete disregard and a lack of respect.

"He has betrayed the whole family and the name of Black! I need to write to my parents." She opened her trunk and scrabbled through it furiously, searching for parchment and a quill.

She grabbed them and sat down at a writing desk, scribbling furiously.

"Bella, this doesn't have to change anything between you and Sirius. You can't let go of your close relationship like this-" Laura was cut off when Bellatrix held up her hand, briefly looking up from her letter.

"It changes _everything."_ Bellatrix snarled. "He has treated our family values with disrespect."

Valentina nodded. "I agree with Bellatrix. You can't betray your family like that, and I'm afraid that your cousin is a traitor."

Laura tried to begin again. "But-"

Bellatrix held up her hand again to signal the end of the conversation, and she continued her letter.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

 _Dear Mother and Father,_

 _In case you haven't already found out, Sirius has been sorted into Gryffindor, and made friends with a mudblood_ AND _a blood-traitor, plus some common riff-raff._

 _Don't worry about me, I am treating our family name the way it should be treated; with respect. I have been sorted into Slytherin with Laura and two other girls, Valentina Zabini and Charlotte Burke._

 _I ask you to inform Aunt Walburga and Uncle Orion about this, in case they don't already know._

 _I intend to express my disappointment in my cousin the next time I see him._

 _Your loving daughter,_

 _Bellatrix Druella Black_

0o0o0o0o0o0o

 **Okay, I hate doing that to Sirius, but this is how I imagine Bellatrix would have reacted.**

 **Also I know that Bellatrix and Sirius have about a seven-year age difference, but I thought that it would be interesting for them to be attending Hogwarts at the same time.**

 **Follow, favourite and review. Or, you know, don't. I** _ **would**_ **appreciate it though.**

 **Bye!**


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